


Lullay, My Sweet One

by learningthetrees



Category: Robin Hood (BBC 2006)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-03
Updated: 2016-09-03
Packaged: 2018-08-12 19:40:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7946647
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/learningthetrees/pseuds/learningthetrees
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Only one person can get Robin to sleep.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lullay, My Sweet One

**Author's Note:**

> My first contribution to the fandom, although I've loved Robin Hood for as long as I can remember. Set somewhere between 2.8 and 2.9.

Asleep, he could be any other man.

The face that was so often wide with a grin was relaxed and serene. Those eyes that had first entranced Marian when she met him all those years ago were not winking or watching her with a look that was simultaneously aggravating and flattering. The air that made everyone he met either fall in line behind him or try to kill him — and the latter happened much more often than Marian liked to admit — had disappeared, replaced by a calm that did not suit him.

He wasn’t Robin Hood, rightful Lord of Locksley and Earl of Huntingdon, when he was asleep.

He was just Robin — her Robin.

An early morning light was creeping into the camp, dappled golden sunbursts hitting the planes of his face. Across the encampment, someone’s snore turned into a snort, but Robin did not wake.

Sometimes, Marian forgot he needed sleep, and she was sure he did, too. He was a man who wanted to do everything and wanted to do it immediately. He had to rush in when a village was threatened, had to confront the Sheriff, had to protect the gang. Even when there was a lull and a quiet hush fell over the camp, Robin could be seen pacing or stocking food or taking practice shots on an overturned log. He never seemed to stand still.

More than once, someone had pointed it out to him. After a particularly strenuous day of loading and unloading goods into Clun, Marian had overheard John tell Robin to get some sleep, at which Robin had nodded, but shortly after, she saw him standing guard just beyond the perimeter of the camp. Djaq had also told him, in a much less polite tone, that he needed rest — and if he didn’t go willingly, she would knock him out with her own two hands — but Robin had only waved her threat aside and proceeded to sharpen arrows.

The only person, it seemed, who could get him to rest was Marian.

The night before, they had all been congregated around the fire, swapping jokes and tall tales as the balmy evening turned into night around them. When the laughter and good-natured ribbing had subsided, a sleepy lull had fallen over the gang. The crackle of the fire and the buzz of crickets began to sing them to sleep, and Marian glanced over to see Robin’s eyelids drooping, closing for a moment only for him to wrench them open again.

She took his hand and stood, gently pulling him up beside her. She gave a nod to Much — the only one who seemed to still be alert — and departed from the fireside with Robin at her heels. She’d led him beyond the others' bunks to the place where she kept her bed, just a pallet in a clearing of soft clover. A swath of moonlight bathed the bed, catchflies unfurling their long white petals and filling the air with sweet fragrance.

Marian sat down on the blankets and opened her arms, expecting a speech about how he had to remain on guard — or, at the very least, a grunt and shake of the head. But instead, Robin nestled up beside her, tucking his head into the hollow of her neck and breathing a long, deep sigh. Marian wrapped her arms around him and pressed a kiss to his forehead. As she fell off to sleep, she thought she’d heard him whisper, “Thank you,” but alas, it might have been a dream.

Now awake, Marian couldn’t help but survey him. Her desire to let him sleep fought with her desire to touch him, and at last, she reached out to brush his sandy hair away from his forehead.

Robin did not open his eyes, but his lips did turn up in that most recognizable of smirks. “Couldn’t help yourself, could you?” he muttered.

Marian scowled. “How long have you been awake?”

Robin opened one eye, peeking at her as his grin grew. “How long have you been staring at me?”

She shoved his shoulder, but he caught her wrist and pulled her closer to him. She wriggled in his grip. “Let go,” Marian said. He knew just how charming and irresistible he was, and that made him infuriating.

Robin relinquished, but not before bestowing a sloppy kiss on her cheek. Marian sat up, stretching her arms above her head as the sweet morning breeze ruffled her hair. She glanced over her shoulder at Robin, who had propped himself up on his elbow.

“At least I won one battle,” she said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Did you?”

“I got you to sleep, didn’t I?”

**Author's Note:**

> Feel free to come talk to me at [ask-learningthetrees.tumblr.com](http://www.ask-learningthetrees.tumblr.com)!


End file.
